Rising Ally
by batman-defeats-all
Summary: After the death of Dick Grayson, a boy named Jason Todd has managed to gain the mantle of Robin. However, this will not be easy on him, with angry teammates, a shadow of a dead boy to leave, and a evil around every corner. Sequel to Fallen Friend
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Young Justice or anything DC owns.**

Dawn broke over Gotham city. The sun leaked over every building, covering most of the usually dark streets and alleys in complete light.

However, the light did not enter a particular bedroom in Wayne Manor. That was what happened when Jason pulled the thick curtains over the windows to his room, as to not be disturbed from his deep, very much needed sleep.

Unfortunately for him, he was awoken far earlier than he would have liked by the curtains being pulled away by a certain British butler to let in streams of golden sunlight.

"Augh! Alfred, close the curtains!"

Alfred rolled his eyes slightly, sighing at the boy's antics. It was quite amusing, considering Jason was literally covering his entire head with one of the plush pillows.

"Master Bruce would like to see you, Master Jason. I suggest you get out of bed and into some clothes so you can go downstairs soon."

With that, Alfred left, leaving Jason completely alone. For a moment, he just sat there, trying to ignore the heat from the sun on his back. However, soon he realized whatever Bruce had to say was probably really important, so he should get down there as soon as possible.

Hesitantly removing the pillow from his head, the boy slowly crawled from bed. As he moved groggily towards the CD player on the other side of the room, he didn't even glance at the red walls covered with hard rock bands posters. As soon as the loud music of Three Days Grace was pounding in his room, Jason turned towards his closet.

Soon, the boy was heading downstairs in a plain black tee shirt and dark blue jeans. Seeing Bruce sitting down at the dining table, he soon slouched in a chair next to the man.

"What you wanna talk about, Bruce?"

Putting down the paperwork he had been examining, the man sighed, running his fingers through his raven locks.

"My attempts to keep your adoption quite apparently failed. I had wanted to let society know Bruce Wayne had adopted another son when you were ready- however, some reporters somehow found out, and we have a press conference in an hour now."

Jason scowled slightly at his mentor's words.

"Really? Wow, I don't like those guys... I guess I should go change into a suit now..."

Eying the immensely casual clothing Jason was wearing, Bruce nodded slowly.

"That.. would be a good idea."

Forty minutes later, Jason found himself sitting next to Bruce in the back of a limo, shifting uncomfortably in his suit. They were approaching city hall, where the conference would be taking place.

And he was as nervous as hell.

Jason was truly not ready for this. He was not used to the spotlight being on him, and that was all this was about. Finding out who exactly he was, and why he was in Wayne Manor.

As the limo pulled up to the building, and all the reporters were visible, the boy swallowed, now absolutely terrified.

He was very much not ready for this. They all looked like vultures, and he was their prey...

Despite his terror, Jason still managed to follow Bruce to the front of the crowd. Seeing the man smiling and waving at the reporters, the boy realized that his arms were nearly cemented to his sides, and his mouth in a small, straight line, taut with absolute terror.

With the camera snapping in his face, flashes everywhere, Jason realized this may not be the best way to be introduced to society. Some shaking, terrified kid- he'll _totally_ make a _brilliant _impression_._

Bruce stepped to the podium, leaning towards the microphone.

"I would have thanked you all for coming today- if I had expected for this to happen so early. However, since this is _not_ the case, I'll flat out admit I am only here to stop any awful rumors that would start circling in your articles if I refused."

The man looked at the crowd, slightly annoyed.

"Well, you may start the interview."

Instantly voices started to be heard everywhere.

"Mr. Wayne, who is this boy?"

"Bruce! Why have you taken in a child so soon after the death of your first son?"

"Oh Mr. Wayne! Where did this boy come from?"

"Why did you want to wait to introduce him to society, Mr. Wayne?"

"Mr. Wayne, can you explain why the child looks so terrified?"

Jason was overwhelmed with all the questions. He really wasn't all that interesting.. Why did they all want to know so much about him? Pretty soon they would be asking what his height and weight was...

Bruce rolled his eyes before speaking into the microphone once again.

"Okay, everyone, calm down. I'll answer some of the questions I managed to hear first. My son's name is Jason Todd. I took him in so early after the loss of.. Dick because that was when Jason needed me. I found Jason trying to find a way to get money to keep him alive on the streets; he seemed to find my tires a good business idea. When I saw that lost little boy holding my tires, I had to take him in. He was one of Gotham's forgotten people, and he needed a home. I didn't want Jason to have to deal with all this yet because he was, _is_, still adjusting to this life. As for why he looks so terrified,"

Bruce chuckled slightly.

"I'm not completely sure, but I think all those flashes may be a bit overwhelming."

When pictures did not stop, Bruce frowned slightly.

"As Dick would have put it, would you please help Jason get whelmed and stop taking photos. I believe you probably got enough by now."

Hastily the reporters stopped their cameras.

"Thank you. Any other questions?"

A woman Jason recognized from some files Bruce had him read as Lois Lane, object of Superman's heart, rose her hand daintily.

"Is there anything that truly sets Jason apart from any other street punk, Mr. Wayne?"

Glaring lightly at the woman, Bruce put his hand on Jason's shoulder.

"He is determined enough to do anything to survive. Also, he is my son, and I care for him. I think that's enough questions. Thank you for your time, I suppose."

Bruce, now severely annoyed, lead Jason back to the limo, and continued steaming as they left.

Alfred looked back at his employer worriedly.

"Is anything the matter, Master Bruce?"

The hero sighed, running his fingers through his raven hair.

"Technically no, Alfred. That was just.. annoying."

Turning to Jason with a small smile, he spoke humorously.

"They are all such nice people, aren't they Jason?"

A bitter laugh came from the boy in response.

"The kindest in the world."

As they drove on, Jason looked out the window, only to see two men robbing a bank.

"Umm... Bruce.."

Turning to see what had caught his son's attention, Bruce rose an eyebrow at the crooks.

"I do believe we may be needed there. Alfred, pull into an alley. Our costumes are in the trunk, right?"

"Of course, sir."

Moments later, the criminals were tied up, with almost all of the reporters surrounding the bank.

Almost all of the newscasters and journalists from the press conference had somehow heard that Batman was out is daylight. Since this rarely happened, they all rushed to see the Dark Knight in action, and possibly find a story about it.

Imagine their surprise when they found not only Batman, but a new Robin as well.

A mere twenty minutes later, in Arkham Asylum, the Joker was smirking largely, Harley Quinn curled up by his side as he watched the news.

Poison Ivy sat behind them on a stool, rolling her eyes at her friend's behavior.

"This new child, Jason Todd, may just be able to bring Gotham's White Knight back to his normal self, for the first time since his first son, Richard Grayson, was found dead."

Ivy rose her eyebrow at the screen.

"That kid died almost two years ago now. Have they _still_ not figure out how that Grayson brat was killed?"

Nearby, the Riddler snorted.

"No. They are all idiots. A simple murder case, and nothing of it can be made."

The Joker, being himself, had to butt in.

"I'm not sure of this Jay kid is going to be a good change or not. Wayne being back to his normal self may just make me lose brain cells from those boring press conferences he has nearly every other week, but this kid may be nearly as fun to kidnap as little Dickie was!"

Ivy looked at the clown oddly.

"If you hate the conferences so much, why do you ever watch them?"

The Joker shrugged.

"Those reporters sometimes ask the weirdest questions. Brucie's reactions are even funnier. Did you see this morning's interview? Classic!"

As the rogues talked, the newscast changed, gaining their attention within the first few words.

"The Dark Knight seems to be as good as moving forward as the White Knight is. Just earlier today, Batman was seen fighting two bank robbers with, shockingly enough, a new Robin."

A picture of the fight appeared in the upper left hand corner.

"This is a surprise to most, since nearly two years ago the original Robin was murdered by none other than Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker."

Though the report went on, said clown turned off the television, his expression dark.

"How could he?"

Harley looked up at the Joker oddly.

"How could who what, Mr. J?"

The maniac abruptly stood, nearly knocking Harley over.

"How could Batman take in a new sidekick when I worked so hard to get rid of the last one?"

Ivy smirked.

"Not your most amazing task anymore, I guess. Downing the bird is kind of useless if there is another to take on the cape."

The Joker glared at Ivy.

"This pathetic little brat won't be around long if I have any say in it. Batsy will regret bringing another kiddie into this world..."

Guards noticed the Joker's violent threats, and attempted to detain him.

However, all they managed to do was run head first into the wall as he ran out of their reach.

Five minutes later, the Joker was free from Arkham.

Free, and ready to see how much this new Bird Boy could handle.

**Not... completely content with that chapter. **

**Jason is really fun to write for, though.  
**

**As for the ending... well, this story will not have anything really bad until the end. Just so no one freaks out.  
**

**Please review!  
**


	2. New Heroes

**This weeks episode.**

**Was. Brilliant.  
**

**... Am I the only one who had thought Artemis may be dead, and was severely relived when we heard her voice?  
**

**Also... At the end, when Jade showed up, I swear I made a joke about Lian being there. Then she was. I PREDICTED THE FUTURE!  
**

**... Right.  
**

**I do not own Young Justice.  
**

She had everything ready.

The costume was made, she had gathered her tools, she had even practiced gymnastics twice as much this week. School and keeping track of current events was put second to her training. Somehow she had managed to avoid her father's suspicion, and did this all nearly completely uninterrupted.

Wearing the costume in question, Barbara Gordan smirked at the mirror. It was time for Batgirl to arrive.

After checking for the last time that her father was asleep, Barbara opened the window to her room and silently slipped out. As soon as she was soaring through the sky, from building to building in great, bounding leaps, she realized why Dick had chosen the life of a hero, even if it had killed him.

This brilliant freedom was very much worth any pain.

For what seemed like hours she just roamed the city, looking for either a crime to stop or Batman. After all, might as well tell the caped crusader he had a new partner.

She smirked when she heard a scuffle directly below her, and the telltale black cape billowing below. She prepared herself to leap into action-

When she saw a young boy wearing a Robin costume.

At first, Barbara was convinced that she was seeing things. Dick was Robin, and Dick was dead. Then she noticed that this boy was much smaller than Dick had been. Plus, his fighting style against the goons he was attacking was immensely different from that of the original Robin. While Dick had been very acrobatic in his style (another clue she should have picked up on sooner), this child seemed to be attacking head on, fists flying.

This was very obviously a new Robin, which could mean only one thing.

Dick had been replaced. _Her_ beloved, amazing, perfect Dick had been replaced like a common soldier.

Anger boiled inside her in fierce amounts. How could Mr. Wayne do that? She had thought he had loved Dick like his own child.

Apparently she was wrong.

In a rage of fury, she swept off, her cape billowing behind her. She could not fight anyone in this state.

There was no way in hell she was giving up on being a hero, though. She was going to go home now, and find out everything she could about this so-called "Robin".

Then Batman would be getting a visit from Batgirl. And she would give him a piece of her mind; even if that random bird brat is there to hear every syllable of her displeasure.

Meanwhile, on the street below, Jason looked around himself at the thugs he had knocked out proudly. A smirk graced his features as he glanced up at his mentor.

"How'd I do, Bats?"

Bruce looked over at his partner from his own fallen crowd of goons.

"Good. Except that you only attacked, and barely dodged."

Looking at his arms, Jason soon noticed he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Heh... right."

As the two spoke, alarms were heard blaring only a few blocks away.

"Follow me. This may be the heist that these thugs were supposed to be guarding."

As the Dark Knight pulled out his grappling hook and took to the roof of a nearby building, Jason faltered in taking out his own and following his mentor.

Soon the two found themselves in front of an immensely large jewelry store. Before they entered the building, Batman turned to his partner.

"Stay behind me at all times. We don't know who is in there, or how dangerous they are. If I tell you to run, you will listen to me. Understand?"

Jason merely rolled his eyes in response.

"Duh. Now, let's go kick some bad guy butt!"

Smiling slightly at the child's antics, Bruce entered the building, Robin following close behind them.

At first, Jason walked through confidently, ready for action. However, the dark store cast many eerie shadows, and even he was severely creeped out by the time Batman rose an arm to stop him.

"There are voices coming from in there. Remember what I said about being behind me at all times."

The hero then rushed into the room, his partner swiftly following.

Only for the duo to make a dead stop as soon as they entered the room.

Standing, seemingly alone, at the very center of the room was none other than the Dark Knight's worst enemy, the city's worst psycho, the murderer of the original Boy Wonder.

Smiling and waving from the center of the room was the Joker.

"Why, hello Batsy and new birdy! How nice of you to drop by!"

Quickly turning towards Jason, Bruce yelled out.

"Robin, run!"

The boy reacted as soon as the words were spoken. He turned, and dashed to the door, his feet pounding against the marble floor. Just as he was about to escape, two very strong hands wrapped themselves around each of his arms and lifted him into the air. The two thugs, who had been hiding in the shadows of the large room until then, carried the kicking and cursing boy towards the Joker.

"My, my. You are quite rude. The original Bird Brat never swore at me,"

Jason ignored the clown's words, though he did start trying to aim his kicks at the psychopath.

Batman ran forward to help his partner, but even more hired help for the clown came out of hiding, and blocked the way towards the captured boy.

As the Dark Knight stared to fight off the onslaught of goons, the Joker studied the child presented before him.

"Hmm... A lot smaller than Birdy #1, looks a bit younger though, so not surprising. Seems to be a whole lot angrier; that should be fun to play with. Was overtaken a lot easier than the original, so must be a lot weaker.."

This, of course, only triggered Jason's fury even more.

"I'm much stronger than some dead kid, you dumb clown!"

This made the clown in question stop short. While he continued to smile, there was a very dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Oh, is that right?"

The Joker walked around the boy once, now staring at every little detail of the boy with slightly hungry eyes. Batman noticed this, and fought even harder, but still could not get past the crowd of thugs.

Once the clown prince of crime had made it back to the front of Jason, he stared at the child's face for a moment, seeming to ignore the fierce scowl and hate-filled glare on the boy's features. Once he finished studying Robin, he turned around, blocking his front from Jason's view.

When the clown turned around, the swears stopped pouring from the boy's mouth as he stared at the glistening knife in the Joker's hand.

"Oh! I guess you heard how your predecessor died, then. Guess what? This is the very same knife! It's my favorite now; a sort of good luck charm."

He stepped towards the frozen boy, grinning wickedly.

"You know what I think some good luck would be? Being able to down two birdies with the same knife!"

As the blade rushed through the air towards Jason's chest, Bruce managed to break free of the gang. He rushed towards his partner, bumping the child's body just enough so the knife did not hit the fatal area of his chest, and instead his right arm.

As soon as the blade was embedded in Robin's skin, Batman knocked out the goons holding the boy, and grabbed his son. Swiftly kicking the cackling Joker, the clown feel down unconscious as the hero ran off, clutching his wounded partner to his chest tightly.

Seeing the police outside, Batman left out a window, not wanting to gather attention to the injured Robin. Soon enough they were back in the Batmobile, and were busy wrapping gauze around the injure arm.

Once bandaged, Jason leaned back in his seat, thinking.

"I... just avoided dying, didn't I?"

Not taking his eyes off the road, Bruce answered.

"Possibly. More likely the Joker wanted to just meet you, see what his new 'toy' is like. To him, the game is just begun. I doubt he would have ended it there."

Underneath his mask, Jason rolled his eyes.

"So a psychopath may want to use me as some sort of toy? Very comforting, Bruce."

Smiling slightly at his son's sarcasm, Bruce answered.

"I try, Jason."

**See? Jay is A-okay! Heh... that rhymes...**

**Please review!  
**


	3. Connections

**Hey, does anyone even remember this? Well, I did recently. So, here's the update.**

**I do not own Young Justice.  
**

Jason was not particularly happy at the moment. Bruce was going to go on an off planet mission, and Alfred couldn't be expected to take care of the boy for such a long period of time. So, there was really only one other solution. Jason truly hated it; being honest, Bruce wasn't even completely content with the idea. Unless they were going to get a babysitter, though, this was the only way.

Which was why Jason, dressed in his Robin costume, was following his mentor into the zeta tube with slumped shoulders and the handle to his red suitcase clutched in his gloved hand. As he begrudgingly entered the cave, the boy tried to hide behind his mentor; anything was better then being seen by the teens that resided in the cave, or were there so often that they might as well have.

Unfortunately, his name being announced as he entered kind of ruined any attempt to sneak into some empty room as soon as Batman left where no one would see him, or even know he was there until, if even then, he was already gone. There fore, the entrance was soon filled with the entire team, standing about in varying levels of tolerance.

Unsurprisingly, the ones glaring most at him was Baby Flash and Superbrat. Seems neither had gained any love for him in the seven months since he had last seen them, when they had been introduced. Since he didn't particularly care for them either, he didn't feel guilty at all for glaring right back at them. He was _ behind _Bruce; it wasn't like his mentor would see. Even if he had, Jason sort of doubted the man would be completely against the glare.

When Batman saw all the teens were present, he went straight into an explanation that Jason was near sure the man had wrote beforehand and memorized; it wouldn't be the first time Bruce did something weird like that.

"As you may have heard, an incident in space recently came up. As one of the core members of the League, I am required to go into space to help clear the issue up-"

Kid Flash, who had been leaning against the wall, annoyed, suddenly stood up and interrupted the Dark Knight.

"And let me guess, you have to leave the replacement Robin with us for one to two weeks?"

The young speedster received a bat-glare for interrupting the older hero, giving Jason a perfectly reasonable excuse for snickering slightly. The annoyed glance from his mentor was what completely uncalled for.  
"While I doubt this will take that long, essentially, yes, I am leaving Jason at the cave while I am gone. There are extra rooms?"

Miss Martian walked up to Batman, a hesitant smile on her lips.

"There are plenty more rooms! Would you like me to show Jason the one next to mine that's open?"

Batman glanced down at his protégé, who tried his best to communicate that he wanted a room as far away from the teens that actually lived there as possible. While the older hero most likely did get the hint, he seemed to ignore it.

"Yes, Megan. That would be best."

Bruce then turned to leave, but put his hand on Jason shoulder and looked down at his adopted son with an encouraging expression. Unfortunately, this expression lasted for only a second before it was gone, the hero leaving with his cape billowing behind him.

As the computer announced Bruce's exit, Miss Martian looked down at him with that same smile as earlier, though Jason thought it looked a bit forced.

"Well, Jason, would you like to see your room?"

"Whatever," he mumbled, still annoyed he even had to be here.

The Martian seemed to realize this was the best response she would get out of the boy, and silently led him to a door directly next to a one labeled with her name. As she opened the door and entered the empty room, Jason followed, his suitcase rolling behind him.

"Here it is," the teen started, flipping the light switch on to reveal a rather plain room with only a bed, a wooden dresser, a matching desk and chair, and a small table next to the bed. "If you need anything, I am right down the hall, and Conner's room is right next to mine if I'm not available."

When he sat down on the bed, Jason expected the alien girl to leave the room. However, she stood there for another moment before speaking again.

"You know, you may want to come out after you've settled in. You are technically part of the team, and we haven't really gotten to meet you yet."

The girl's words made the boy snort.

"Yeah, I'm sure the resident speedster and Kryptonian would just love to get to know me better."

"I'm sure Wally and Conner would warm up to you more if they just got to be with you more..."

Though he rolled his eyes fiercely underneath his mask, Jason decided it wouldn't kill him... most likely.

"Fine, whatever."

Before leaving, Megan offered the boy one more bit of advice.

"Jason... you may want to change into civilian clothing. Hanging out in costume is kind of awkward."

The door was soon closed, and Jason was finally alone. Deciding there was pretty much nothing to do, he quickly changed into a red tee shirt, jeans, and white socks.

If he was forced to 'hang out' with these teens that obviously had no interest in him, then he was going to do it his way, which did not include shoes.

Was this slight act of rebellion immature? Yeah, but they started it by glaring at a freaking 12-year-old.

Content with the clothing, the boy walked out into the hallway, set on heading to the main room where pretty much everything was. However, he found this a problem when he realized that he had not paid attention to where he was going while following Megan.

So, pretty much, he was lost in a giant mountain. This day was going brilliantly...

As the boy wandered around, he tried to use the voices that he heard echoing through the halls to guide him towards the main room, but only ended up getting even more lost.

It was not that big a cave. He should be able to find his way through.

With these thoughts in mind, the boy continued on, barley noticing that the voices were actually getting even more quiet.

Meanwhile, in the main room, the team got ready to watch a movie. As Artemis poured popcorn into the bowls, she realized that there was one boy that, according to Megan, had said he would come out. Putting down the remaining popcorn, she left the kitchen area to talk to the rest of her friends about the missing member.

"Hey, Megan, didn't you say that Jason was going to be coming out?"

The Martian looked up from her spot next to Conner with a slightly worried expression.

"He did..."

Wally, who was sitting on one of the chairs, rolling his eyes.

"The kid is a punk, he's probably going to just hang out in his room the whole night."

Artemis sighed at the speedster's attitude.

"Wally, would please check his room, just to be sure he's okay? You know how overprotective Bats gets."

The words made the teen boy freeze for a moment as he remembered times his best friend got even a little hurt, and Batman had gotten extremely angry. Of course, this thought process ended with memories of how the older hero had seemed so broken when Dick had...

Suddenly, Wally was standing up.

"Okay, I'll just make sure that I'm right and he's slumping in his room. I'll be back in a sec, babe."

Wally then sped off, and was soon at the door to the room that Jason was currently residing. He rolled his eyes again before he knocked on the door.

"Hey, kid, are you going to come out or be totally antisocial the whole time?"

After waiting a moment, he frowned when there was no answer.

"Helllllooooo? New Robin? Jaaaaasssssooooon? Jaaaaaaay? Are you there?"

His eyebrows creased when there was still no answer.

Deciding that there was something not right here, the teen slowly opened the door.

Only to find the room almost completely empty and utterly devoid of Jason.

Now slightly worried, Wally started down the hallway, deciding that it would be best to start looking for the missing boy.

Only because Artemis wouldn't be happy if he came back without the kid and news that he wasn't in his room. Not any other reason.

On the other side of the mountain, Jason accepted that he was completely and utterly lost. There was no noise coming from anywhere, except for the echoing of his own footsteps on the cold stone floor, and even that was muffled by his socks. This area of the cave seemed to have literally no light, making it so he was pretty much just stumbling through the dark.

The area was also absolutely freezing; he must have accidentally wandered into an area that was just a normal cave that the League hadn't hooked up with lights and heating. That was the only explanation.

As he continued walking forward, his arms crossed to try to regain some heat in his bare arms, he had no way to stop himself from tripping over a bump in the stone he was walking on. Though he tried to regain his balance, there was no way to get his arms out quick enough before his head fell straight into the wall that was only a couple feet away, knocking him unconscious. As his limp body collapsed on the floor, it left a faint echo in the cave.

An echo that, while no one else could even slightly notice, Conner heard clearly.

"What was that?" the clone asked, getting up slightly from his position next to Megan, to turn towards the source of the sound.

"I didn't hear anything," Artemis said from her spot across the couch.

"It sounded like someone falling.."

"Well, everyone is here except for Wally and Jason," Megan said to her boyfriend.

"I'm going to go check it out," Conner stated, getting up from his spot to head towards where he heard the sound. Before he went into the hallways, he grabbed a flashlight, for the sound had seemed far away.

Soon, the clone found Wally, who was starting to look very frustrated.

"Hey, Conner! What are you doing here?"

"I thought I heard someone falling..."

"Well, I'm fine. Just looking for a kid who seemed to have vanished..."

The teen's voice started to fade out as realization came to him.

"You don't think..."

The two stared at each other for a second, before they both started to run forward, Wally holding himself back so that they could still look at their surroundings while running.

"How far away did it sound?" the speedster asked, nervousness edging into his voice.

"It sounded pretty far. I brought a flashlight just in case we run into an area where electricity isn't hooked up."

Only a few yards after the clone said this, they ran into an area with no light.

"Well, seems like time to pull that out."

Soon, the two were walking, pointing the light in every direction, but not finding anything, or anyone. The fact that the cold was getting worse with every step they took did not ease their worry.

Just as they were about to lose hope, though, the light shined on what seemed to be a white sock.

"Stop!"

Wally bent down to investigate further, and found a hopefully just unconscious Jason lying on the ice cold stone floor.

"We got him! He's practically frozen, though. I think I need to run him back. Are you good walking?"

Wally could barely see Conner nodding in the dark, but was able to see the motion enough that only a mere second later he had scooped up the child and dashed into the main room.

The rest of the team was rather shocked to see Wally lay an unconscious Jason on one of the chairs.

"Wally, what happened?" Artemis asked, moving towards the speedster.

"I don't know, but the kid needs a lot of blankets. And fast. Should probably have his head examined also."

As Megan moved to get the blankets and Kaldur went to get the first-aid kit, Artemis stood next to the red head.

"I thought Jason was just some replacement that you didn't care about at all."

"Well, he is... But you know how overprotective Bats gets."

Artemis smiled slightly at the teen, not believing the obvious lie even a bit.

Dick would be proud of him. It seemed that the speedster may have finally be warming up a bit to the boy.

**Not really fond of that ending, but overall I like how this one turned out... sort of.**


End file.
